How to register on KONEPS and bid for Korean government tenders as a…

The essentials


Your status	국외소재업체: an overseas company with no Korean business registration
Document	Home-country business registration certificate, translated into Korean and notarised
Processing	Within 8 working hours of receipt, by rule
Deadline	Registered by 18:00 on the business day before the bid deadline
Validity	3 years for manufactured goods; renew at least 20 days before expiry
Korean agent	Not required
E-bidding	Needs Korean phone-based identity and a business certificate; postal or agent submission is the fallback for foreign tenders
Notice period	At least 40 days for international tenders
Bonds	Bid ≥ 5% (often waived); performance ≥ 10%
Payment	Commercial letter of credit

How foreign procurement works in Korea

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) buys foreign goods (외자) separately from domestic purchases: goods and services not produced or supplied in Korea, bought under international commercial practice. Its Overseas Goods Division runs these tenders (tel. +82 42-724-7330 / 7540).

International tenders above the WTO GPA thresholds (KRW 230 million for central-government goods and services in 2025–26) give at least 40 days. That can be cut to 24 or 10 days in urgent cases.
Specifications are pre-published on KONEPS for 7 days (3 if urgent), so you can comment before the tender opens.
Small foreign purchases of USD 40,000 or less can be bought by negotiated contract after a 10-day quotation notice.
English: notices must summarise in English the item, the bid deadline and the buying agency. Bid documents and contracts may be in Korean or English, and Korean prevails if they differ. The instructions to bidders are published in both languages, and some English notices appear on pps.go.kr/eng under “Tender Notice → Foreign Goods”.

Registering, step by step

Check you’re eligible.
- You need a business registration certificate (or certificate of office ownership) from your home country, or an equivalent certificate showing you’re a lawful business.
- For goods, you must manufacture or sell the item, as shown on that certificate.
- Security clearance is needed only if a tender requires it.
Prepare the document.
- It must be issued by a competent public authority in your country. If not, it needs administrative confirmation or notarisation.
- Translate it into Korean and notarise the translation. Also give your company name, representative and address in English.
Download the application form: “신규등록 신청서” on PPS’s overseas company page, or the English “Application for Registration” on pps.go.kr/eng.
Submit by uploading on KONEPS, or by post or in person at PPS headquarters or a regional office where uploading isn’t possible.
Wait for approval. The rule requires officials to process an application within 8 working hours of receipt, or tell you the reason and expected date. If PPS asks for corrections and you don’t reply within 20 days, the application is returned.
You get your own registration number. Overseas registrations are the only ones issued a separate number.

What you don’t need at registration:

product catalogues;
manufacturer certificates;
powers of attorney for agents.

Supplier and manufacturer certificates, or a distributorship agreement, are bid attachments when a tender asks for them.

Deadline before each bid: registration must be complete and valid by 18:00 on the business day before the bid deadline, and stay valid until the contract is signed. The older rule letting foreign firms register any time before contract ended in 2016, though some English PPS pages still show it.

Keeping it current:

Register changes to your representative, name or address immediately. Bidding without updating your name or representative makes the bid void.
Registration for manufactured goods lasts three years. File for renewal at least 20 days before expiry; the current rule says 20, although PPS’s web page still says 10.

The e-bidding problem, and the fallback

Since next-generation KONEPS launched on 6 January 2025, electronic bids need two credentials:

A personal identity check tied to a smartphone the person owns: simple authentication, a financial certificate, a mobile ID or the Nara app. The old joint certificate (공동인증서) no longer counts for this.
A business certificate from a designated Korean certification authority (KOSCOM, KICA, Crosscert or KTNET).

A company with no Korean presence, phone or ID usually can’t complete this check. The registration rule still provides a certificate route for overseas firms bidding electronically on foreign-goods tenders, but no current PPS guidance explains how it works with the new identity check. Call PPS registration (+82 42-724-7189 / 7507) before relying on it.

The fallback for foreign procurement tenders:

Submit in person or by post, or through a bid-submission agent whose authority is limited to submitting the bid. Bids filed by anyone other than the agent designated in your registration are invalid.
In procurement covered by the WTO GPA, agencies can’t ban postal bids.

Korean agents and the bidder–supplier structure

No Korean agent is required. But foreign tenders use a two-party structure that many suppliers use with an agent:

the “Bidder” (입찰자) submits the bid;
the “Supplier” (공급자) signs a supplier certificate;
together they’re the contracting party and are jointly and severally liable.

In practice, the bidder is often a Korean trading company and the supplier is the foreign manufacturer or distributor.

Korean agents need their own registration, with Korean business registration listing trade, import and export, or import agency.
No agent at all? PPS can delegate the contract to its procurement attaché abroad and sign locally.
Don’t sell your win. Registrants may not get a winner to pay part of the contract price for the bid, or help it avoid performing the contract itself.

Bidding in a foreign procurement tender

Currency: the tender sets it. Foreign-currency bids are compared in US dollars, at the first basic rate published by Seoul Money Brokerage on opening day. If there are also won bids, prices are converted to won.
Delivery terms: PPS buys on FCA, FOB, CFR, CPT, CIF, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP (Incoterms 2020).
- FCA or FOB: PPS’s consolidated carrier ships the goods and the buying agency clears customs.
- DAP or DDP: you handle freight, customs and delivery.
- Mixed foreign and domestic supply is evaluated on a DDP basis.
Bid bond: at least 5%, in cash, an irrevocable letter of credit, a bank guarantee or a certified cheque, in the tender currency. The bidder and supplier can split it. PPS usually waives the deposit in exchange for a payment undertaking (지급각서), unless the notice requires one, for example for goods of USD 1 million or more.
Performance bond: at least 10% of the contract value, by letter of credit, bank guarantee or similar, through a bank in your country. It must be valid until at least 90 days after the final shipment, and is returned after shipment plus three months, or on acceptance.
Payment: by commercial letter of credit opened by PPS’s bank, paid against shipping documents. PPS pays the opening fees; you pay bank charges outside Korea.
Inspection:
- your shipping documents include an inspection certificate;
- the buying agency inspects on arrival and posts “no-defect acceptance” on KONEPS, after which retentions are released;
- any Korean type-approval or official inspection costs are yours.

What’s closed to foreign firms

SME-reserved products (중소기업자간 경쟁제품): designated products must be bought through competition among Korean SMEs, with a direct-production confirmation from the SME ministry. Foreign firms are effectively excluded.
Registering as a manufacturer of general goods for domestic tenders needs PPS factory and production papers, designed around Korean factories.
The domestic online shopping mall and multiple-award schedules in practice need a Korean entity. PPS can use unit-price contracts or multiple-award schedules for frequently bought foreign goods; no contract is signed if only one bidder takes part, and if several bid the same manufacturer’s item, only the lowest price can win.
Works below the GPA thresholds often require a local joint-contracting member.

What changed in 2025–2026

6 January 2025: next-generation KONEPS launched, with identity-verified bidding and business certificates replacing the joint certificate for e-bids.
30 December 2025: the special decree on international procurement was amended for the government reorganisation. Threshold notices now come from the Ministry of Finance and Economy (재정경제부).
23 January 2026: the registration rule and the foreign procurement rule were amended.
1 May 2026: the KONEPS terms of use were amended.

For the wider rules, see how to bid for government contracts in South Korea and the Korean procurement glossary.

Questions

Can a foreign company register on KONEPS?

Yes, as a 국외소재업체 (overseas company): a business operating abroad without Korean business registration. The only document required is your home-country business registration certificate, issued by a competent authority, translated into Korean and notarised, with the company name, representative and address also given in English.

How long does KONEPS registration take for a foreign company?

The rule requires officials to process an application within 8 working hours of receipt, or tell you why not. Allow more time in practice for translated and notarised files, and make sure registration is complete by 18:00 on the business day before the bid deadline, or your bid is invalid.

Do I need a Korean agent to bid on KONEPS?

No. A foreign company can register and bid itself. Many foreign suppliers work through a Korean trading company as the ‘bidder’, with the foreign maker signing as ‘supplier’; the two are then jointly and severally liable. Where there’s no Korean agent, PPS can sign the contract abroad through its procurement attaché.

Can I bid electronically from abroad on KONEPS?

It’s difficult. Since January 2025, electronic bids need both a smartphone-based personal identity check and a business certificate from a Korean certification authority, which a firm with no Korean presence usually can’t complete. For foreign procurement tenders you can instead submit in person, by post, or through an agent authorised only to submit the bid, and agencies can’t ban postal bids in procurement covered by the WTO GPA.

What bonds does PPS require in foreign procurement tenders?

A bid bond of at least 5% (often waived in exchange for a payment undertaking unless the notice requires a deposit, for example for goods of USD 1 million or more) and a performance bond of at least 10% of the contract value, valid until at least 90 days after the final shipment.

How does PPS pay foreign suppliers?

Foreign-currency contracts are paid by commercial letter of credit, opened by PPS’s bank and paid against shipping documents. PPS pays the opening fees; the supplier bears bank charges outside Korea.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.

KONEPS for foreign companies.